Community workers in an area hit by three feud murders have called on Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald to visit the locality and reassure people who fear being “shot on their way to the shops”.

The gangland murders of the past fortnight have brought back “fear and terror” to a community already on its knees from cutbacks and neglect, the local drug task force has said.

Nearly half of people intimidated by gangs over drug debts were physically assaulted and a third suffered damage to their property, new research has found.

A DOZEN limousines, outriders on Harley Davidson motorbikes, a remote-controlled toy BMW car, an €18,000 platinum coffin, horse-drawn carriages, and a lone piper.

A priest at the funeral of David Byrne has pleaded for an end to the bloodshed that has left communities gripped with fear amid the latest escalation in gangland violence.

Eight out of 10 families, directly affected by drug addiction favour decriminalisation of drug possession, a survey indicates.

There is a sense of “utter hopelessness” in communities intimidated by gangs, local drug groups have told the Oireachtas.

Health Minister Leo Varadkar will take up direct responsibility for the sensitive areas of drug and alcohol policy.

The Government is putting hundreds of lives at risk by slashing drug addiction prevention budgets by more than a third since it came to power.

Budgetary cuts are undermining rehabilitation projects which offer a “lifeline to drug users, their families, and communities”.

A conference calling for a debate on drug laws yesterday heard that a man faced a three-month prison term for having cannabis worth just €2.

With Ireland experiencing a frightening increase in the amount of drugs recovered by the gardaí, the warning that children face a bleak future if the Government fails to take on vested interests in the alcohol and sports industries could not be more timely.

Judges should be allowed to impose minimum jail terms for murderers — including up to “whole-life sentences” — under plans drawn by the State’s legal advisory body.

Community groups, health researchers, and academics are calling for a national debate on drug laws.

TALKING to drug gangs should be considered as part of an effort to protect families and communities from drug-related intimidation, a conference has heard.

DRUG-RELATED deaths involving anti-depressants and methadone have soared, new figures show.

THE country is experiencing a gangland and drugs crisis, with entire communities facing intimidation on a regular basis, a major drugs conference has heard.

GARDA commissioner Fachtna Murphy issued a chilling warning about a new drugs threat facing this country known as crystal meth.

THE department overseeing the national drugs strategy — and not the HSE — is responsible for the failure to implement the Government’s rehabilitation strategy, a leading community drugs representative has claimed.

THERE has been a 900% increase in the number of cocaine addicts being treated in Ireland over the last seven years, according to new figures.

FAMILIES of cocaine addicts in debt to drug dealers are being terrorised and their homes shot at, community activists said yesterday.

The Government must provide additional funding in December’s budget for rehabilitation projects to tackle Dublin’s growing drugs crisis, campaigners said today.

IMPLEMENTATION of the Government’s national drugs strategy is being threatened by the actions of the Health Service Executive and the Department of Health, it was claimed yesterday.

IRELAND is facing a "cocaine epidemic" and the Government urgently needs to fund prevention and treatment, probation officers said yesterday.